


It's Always Better When We're Together

by teenuviel1227



Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, bestfriends to lovers, past side impliedish jaepil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2019-03-19 00:27:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13693023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teenuviel1227/pseuds/teenuviel1227
Summary: The one where Jae and Brian are both dateless on Valentine’s, decide to have a WHO NEEDS LOVE LET’S WATCH ROCKY movie marathon, and end up realizing they might not be as loveless as they’d thought.





	It's Always Better When We're Together

**Author's Note:**

> Lazy and suffering from some weird kind of weird adult-life-sucks crisis so not going to do the html stuff but yell at me on CC and Twt, it’s teenuviel1227 for both. :) Hope you guys enjoy this. Sorry if it was poorly proofread. I wrote it while stuck in traffic. I hope you guys are having a good day, I hope this brightened up your Valentine's day. We all know it sucks, if not for the love thing, then for the amounts of heavy traffic caused.

“ _Why_ are we watching this again?” Brian asks Jae as they watch Sylvester-Stallone-as-Rocky-Balboa jog around the city swathed in gray sweatpants and a bonnet, raising his fists in the air as he skips across the railway tracks. The cheesy, victory-chant music swells in the background, strings and piano chords running at a crescendo.

They’re sitting bundled up on the floor of Brian’s studio apartment in the downtown Mapo district. There is a pitcher of strawberry Daiquiri slush sitting between them and a bowl of popcorn that’s almost empty is cradled in Jae’s lap.

It’s far from either of their ideal dates--Brian was hoping to maybe head out to a club tonight, maybe pick up a hot guy or girl (he just likes who he likes) but his paycheck had gotten delayed and he didn’t really have a choice but to stay in. Jae hasn’t been single in years, was left all broken and weepy and clingy (not that Brian minds) after his long-term boyfriend (now code name: Snake according to him, but Brian thinks the guy was pretty nice) broke up with him shortly after Christmas.

When Jae had said _hangout with me please so I don’t have to stave off demons alone at home in an apartment that is just too fucking big for one person?_ Brian had pictured something he’d pictured for years: maybe him cooking for Jae, maybe him showing off with a fancy bottle of wine, maybe them watching a movie, maybe him finally saying something about how he feels.

But of course Brian didn’t have money to buy ingredients or good wine, and of course Jae wanted to watch Rocky or Rambo or The Expendables to _fuck with love_ , and of course Brian wanted to try making cocktails, had frosted the glasses and everything and of course the ice jammed in the blender blade and now they have to take turns drinking it as the slush melts, the gin and sugar and pink mix trickling down their chins.

Of course this is happening--Brian’s timing has been fucked since time immemorial and he’s kind of used to it.

“Earth to Park Jaehyung."

Brian glances sideways at Jae, who is wearing that wide, shit-eating grin of his that shows off the spaces between his teeth, that makes his eyes crinkle at the corners. He’s giggling in that way that Brian’s always found endearing, giggling like a kid out of a cartoon whose foot is being tickled with a feather.

“Come _on_ ,” Jae says, taking a swig from the homemade Daiquiri sitting between them. “Doesn’t it make you feel better? Like you can take over the world? Like you don’t need anyone _ever_ and you can beat all of your adversaries including the notion society has that if no one loves you romantically, then there must be something wrong with you?”

Brian winces as on screen, Rocky starts punching slabs of hanging meat at a butcher shop.

“Yeah okay but anyone can beat up a steak. He should’ve eaten it instead, _that_ would’ve made me feel better. What a waste of good meat. Where are you, steakie? Come to Papa.” Brian gesticulates as though cooing at a puppy.

Jae flicks Brian’s forehead. “That steak’s been digested by someone who’s probably being digested by the earth. This movie came out in 1976 for crying out loud.”

Brian shrugs, adds more gin to the Daiquiri mix before taking a swig. He wipes the run-off with his sweater sleeve. “The question still stands. _Why_ are we watching this again?”

Jae shrugs. “Because we eventually get to Rocky Balboa the 2006 sequel and Milo Ventimiglia’s really hot?”

Brian laughs, raises the blender as if to make a toast. “I’ll drink to that.”

Jae meets his gaze, thinking for a moment just how good Brian looks, even in the eerie blue light radiating from the television. He raises his imaginary glass, realizing that the downside of sharing a pitcher of Daiquiri slush with your bestfriend instead of making cocktails like two normal, functional human beings is it becomes hard to toast.

“Wait,” Brian says before getting up to rummage through a couple of drawers.

Jae watches Brian’s broad back, follows the line of his shoulders, the way his arms tense as he pushes the drawer shut. A thought skirts along his mind for a moment, the one thing that had gotten him through his breakup with Wonpil: maybe Brian will be end-game.

_Siiiiike. No. Fuck wait is that jinxing it? Double sike. Whatever. Universe, the one where we end up together._

“Gotcha!”

“Wait, what--”

“--straws?” Brian holds up two sealed plastic straws, leftover from an old takeout order.

“Right. Sorry.”

Brian raises an eyebrow, giving Jae a quizzical look as he sits back down. “You look like Rocky punched _you_ in the face. You okay?’

His voice is playful but concerned, caring. Jae smiles despite himself.

“I’m alright. Just. Thinking about stuff I guess.”

“Such as?”

“Being 25 and dateless.”

Brian ruffles Jae’s hair. “What, this isn’t your ideal date? Rundown apartment with your mildly attractive bestfriend? 35% alcohol cocktail? Stale popcorn and ROCKY BALBOA? I mean that soundtrack that makes you feel like you don’t need society blahblah--”

Jae laughs, his cheeks heating up at the mention of the word _date._

“Stop being self-deprecating.”

Brian raises an eyebrow. “Eh?”

“Mildly attractive, my foot. If you were at the clubs tonight you’d probably take the hottest guy _and_ girl home, Mr. Pansexual. Thanks for staying in with your jjjjaded and socially impaired bestfriend.”

Brian snorts. “Who’s being self-deprecating now?”

“Well, _I_ have proof. If I wasn’t socially impaired, I wouldn’t have been broken up with. You, on the other hand, have no shortage of options and I feel like a burden.”

“Brad Pitt broke up with Jennifer Aniston. Think about THAT.”

“What is that even supposed to _mean?”_

“I mean maybe it just didn’t work out. No one’s fault--”

“--HAH--”

“--you’re perfect. And I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.” Brian’s palms are suddenly sweaty, the alcohol working its magic, loosening his impulse control.

Jae shakes his head as Brian dips the two straws into the cocktail, swings one around toward Jae. Jae grins.

“You’re so cheesy.”

“And did it ever occur to you that the prospects I have aren’t the ones I want?” Brian watches the shadow-patterns on the duvet as they shift.

Jae blinks, not meeting his eye. “So you wanna date boys, girls, what else is missing? A toaster? The Yeti perhaps? God. Everyone wants you.”

“Not everyone.”

Jae glances up at Brian. Their eyes meet. Jae’s heart is pounding so hard he can hear it. Brian wonders what Jae is thinking. He clears his throat, breaks the silence.

“To fucking with the system and being two fabulous, single men.” Brian leans in to take a sip from his straw.

Jae follows suit, both of them hyper aware of just how close the other is.

Brian lets his gaze linger on Jae a moment longer than usual, taking note of the cute way Jae’s eye twitches as he takes a sip, the crushed ice too cold too fast. _Cute._ “And to my extremely handsome, talented, kind, sexy bestfriend who Kim Wonpil was an idiot to break up with.”

“Jesus, I’m not used to you saying shit like that--”

Brian averts his eyes, his cheeks warmer than he’d like.

“--s’fine, you don’t have to say anything back, I’m used to you being all dead inside--”

Brian is about to make a joke--something about how everything he says about Jae is just him joking anyway-- but Jae’s lays a hand over Brian’s where he’s holding the pitcher.

It tingles where they touch.

Jae takes the pitcher and sets it down slowly. “I’ll take that.”

On the screen, Rocky is saying something that’s supposed to be dramatic. Neither of them can register what’s happening

“--Jae, I--”

“I’m going to tell you a secret.” Jae is half-smiling now, light bouncing off of the gold rims of his glasses.

“What?” Brian licks his lips nervously, tries not to fidget, resists the urge to tuck himself into his oversized hoodie, to disappear into a ball of yellow fluff.

“I have a bucket list.”

“What?”

“A list of things to do before I die. You know, Morgan Freeman, Jack Nicholson, sky-diving, that kinda thing--”

“--you’re afraid of heights--”

“--yeah but usually it’s the things that you’re scared of that’re the most worth doing. That’s from Chasing Liberty. Mandy Moore and Matthew Goode--”

“--are you trying to tell me you want me to jump off a plane with you?”

“Something like that.”

Jae grins, moves closer and closer still until the tips of their noses graze each other, until Brian swears to god he’s going to keel over and die because it’s happening--it’s really happening! Brian lets his eyes flutter shut, catching a last glimpse of Jae smiling before their lips meet in a soft, sweet kiss that tastes a little bit like the salt from the popcorn, the sweetness from the strawberry mix, the sting from the gin. Jae cups Brian’s cheeks with both hands, taking his time, softly parting his lips as Brian’s tongue finds his, the kiss deepening. It feels new, electric, but also familiar, a long time coming.

When they pull apart, both of them can’t stop smiling. On screen, the credits start rolling.

“So this bucket list,” Brian says, grinning. “Was that a one-time thing or--”

Jae leans in to kiss him again. “--from what I remember it was pretty open-ended. You know how like, people say they get addicted to the rush of like bungee jumping and stuff--”

“--yeah. Yeah, okay.”

Brian grins, heart pounding as he takes the near-empty popcorn bowl from Jae’s lap, sets it aside to scoop Jae into his arms, onto his lap, hugging him from behind, arms circling Jae’s waist, his chin softly tucked over Jae’s shoulder. Jae smiles, feeling a blush creep onto his cheeks as he realizes how good it feels to be held like this, to be with Brian like this.

“Here’s to the most incredible person I’ve ever met," Jae says, smiling in the darkness.

Brian's heart swells in his chest. He presses a tender kiss onto Jae’s soft cheek, holds him closer.

The screen’s gone dark but neither of them care about the TV or the sweating blender or the overturned popcorn bowl and its spilt contents.

 _This is nice._ Brian smiles against the hollow of Jae’s neck. _Just like this for now. Whatever happens in the future, we’ll have this hug, these kisses._

Jae is grinning wide, eyes the slimmest of crescent moons. _Boo yah. End-game, motherfuckers._


End file.
